Suddenly, the door to the Pit swung open and Lucinda shuffled in. She was dragging an old, rusted TV on wheels behind her, the screen flickering in and out.
Bigglesby swung his cage around. “Nice of you to join us, Lucinda. We’re just getting started.”
Lucinda’s snake hissed and flicked its tongue, and two Core workers rushed forward to help her haul the TV around to the stands.
“What’s that all about?” Albert whispered to his friends.
Leroy pointed. “The Path Hider’s in there, dude. Like a live video feed or something.”
Sure enough, when Albert craned his neck, he saw the Path Hider’s face, with his strange different-colored eyes, staring back at the room from the TV screen. Albert could barely make out hints of the entryway to the Core, the big fat maze of pipes. He wondered where the Path Hider had been when they’d arrived just an hour before.
“I guess they’re letting him watch the meeting from his domain,” Birdie said. “So he can still guard the paths. That’s cool.”
Finally, once Lucinda was seated, Bigglesby cleared his throat and began again.
“As I was saying, before the interruption . . .” Bigglesby’s tiny, dark eyes flitted toward Lucinda. “I will get straight to the point.” He stopped and took a deep breath before speaking again. “The door to the Realm of Belltroll has been opened, by force. We are afraid that an Imbalance is imminent and could quite possibly be the worst Imbalance the Core has yet to face.”
Murmurs carried across the room like a sudden gust of wind. Lucinda gasped dramatically and pressed a hand to her chest.
But Hydra wasn’t surprised in the least bit. They’d been waiting for this to happen for months.
“The doors are never to be opened, unless a Realm is in dire need. But someone found the power to open the door and used it just yesterday morning.” Bigglesby looked around the room, his head turning very, very slowly as he took every face in. “This has not happened since . . .” His voice trailed off, and his eyes flitted toward the Professors.
Professor Flynn shook his head, just once. But Albert caught it. What didn’t his dad want Bigglesby to share?
Professor Bigglesby cleared his throat. “This has not happened in centuries.”
All around him, Albert heard snippets of questions and conversations, and though he knew he should be asking questions, too, he just couldn’t.
It was obvious that an Imbalance was on its way. It was even more obvious that if the door to Belltroll had been forced open, meaning someone probably went inside the Realm, on the very same day the earthquake happened in New York . . . well, it had to be the traitor. There was no other logical answer.
From the corner of his eye, Albert saw Hoyt Jackson and the rest of Team Argon. They sat with their heads pressed together, no doubt asking the same questions everyone else was.
Albert shifted in his seat so he didn’t have to look at Argon. Slink and Mo were all right, but seeing Hoyt made the hair rise on the back of Albert’s neck. He still hadn’t forgiven the guy for nearly destroying the world last term, with his little stunt in Ponderay.
Professor Bigglesby held up a tiny hand, and the crowd stilled.
“Fear is a very real thing, but I must urge you not to give in to it. Not now, when the Core needs bravery the most.” He scanned the crowd again, more quickly this time. “The other Professors and I have come to an agreement. We need to act now, before the Imbalance escalates, and we need the very best team of Balance Keepers to lead this mission.”
Albert thought he saw Bigglesby look directly at him, but there were so many people, he couldn’t be sure. He sat a little taller, and beside him, Birdie and Leroy did the same.
“Today, we will perform the first Team Election the Core has had in centuries. There is no time for a competition to see who will enter the Realm. We will vote. Every member of the Core, not just the Balance Keepers, will get a say on who will train to save the Realm of Belltroll.”
Birdie leaped to her feet in an instant. “But how will they train, Professor? The Pit was destroyed months ago.”
It was a good question. People throughout the stands called out to second it, but Bigglesby held up a hand to calm the crowd.
“This has all been taken into account,” he said. He was so tiny, yet he spoke with such authority. It calmed Albert a bit. Of course the Professors already had a plan in place. Bigglesby continued.
“This, perhaps, will be our most dangerous mission yet. Not simply because we do not know who opened the door to Belltroll, and how he or she was able to do so, but because we don’t yet know the damage that has been done to the Realm. The Core Watchers have been working around the clock to decipher what’s been causing the quakes, but all we know is that they originated from the Belltroll Realm. Since the door was opened, there has been . . .” His voice trailed off and he looked to the other Professors.
Professor Asante and Professor Flynn nodded in unison, and Bigglesby continued on.
“We don’t know the state of the Realm at this moment in time because there has been a strange interference with our instruments.”
Leroy leaned over to Albert and Birdie. “The traitor,” he whispered. “What if this person is messing with the readers and stuff? What if the Imbalance is already in full swing?”
Birdie shook her head. “If it was, then wouldn’t the surface be in way worse condition?”
Albert nodded. “That’s true. But I think the traitor’s not going to attack that fast. They want my Tile, remember? I think they’re going to take this slow.”
“What do you mean?” Leroy said.
“I think . . . ,” Albert began, but Bigglesby was still talking and Albert didn’t want to miss a thing. “I’ll tell you later, okay?”
“There’s no way for us to know what it’s like in the Realm right now,” Bigglesby continued. “This is why we must build a team today,” he said, “and enter tomorrow.”
The reaction from the crowd was immediate. Someone shot up, an older shaggy-haired boy who Albert recognized from last term as one of the Pures. “We can’t just throw a team into the Realm without the proper time and environment to practice!”
Several others shouted their agreement to this, including Albert. Going into a Realm without any training seemed not only dangerous but stupid. How could they battle whatever was wrong in the Realm and come out alive if they hadn’t trained for it?
Bigglesby raised both his hands this time and the crowd eventually fell silent. Bigglesby looked annoyed, like he’d expected all of them to get on board with the Professors’ plan right away. But everyone was eerily silent. If they were feeling like Albert, Bigglesby’s speech hadn’t inspired them; it had only highlighted the direness of the situation. Going into the Realm without even knowing what they were dealing with . . . it was a desperate move.
Bigglesby cleared his throat. “So now, we will take a vote.”
Professor Asante and Flynn both rose from the crowd. Asante crossed to the right of the stands near Lucinda, and Professor Flynn to the left, closest to Team Hydra and Petra. Albert had a feeling he knew how this vote was going to turn out, and he didn’t like it, not if he was right about the traitor’s plan.
“First, we will ask for nominations,” Bigglesby continued. “Does anyone wish to nominate a team of Balance Keepers, based on previous acts of bravery and accomplishment?”
A hand immediately shot up, in the very front of the crowd.
“I nominate Team Hydra,” Lucinda said. She stood, and as she did, Kimber slid from her neck and slithered off into the crowd. “They clearly are the most prepared unit, as they’ve saved the Core twice now from a terrifying fate.”
She turned, her eyes scanning the crowd for Albert, Birdie, and Leroy. When she found them, she gave her biggest smile.
Albert felt Birdie’s hand grasp his. He held on tight, like it was an anchor.
They didn’t trust Lucinda. Not after last term. And her eagerness to nominate Hydra o
nly added to Albert’s theory about the traitor’s plan.
“Something’s fishy about this,” Leroy whispered.
Albert couldn’t have said it better himself.
“Hydra is in the running,” Bigglesby said into the MegaHorn. “Do we have any other nominations?”
Another person stood. This time it was a tall, wiry woman with long dark curls, someone Albert hadn’t seen before. “I nominate Team Argon as well. Particularly the captain, Hoyt. After all, he has been training for this moment his entire life.”
“As have several other Balance Keepers,” Professor Bigglesby said. The woman gave Bigglesby a scowl that looked oddly familiar to Albert, though he couldn’t quite place it. “But Argon showed extreme bravery last term in the Realm of Ponderay, and so I think it wise to add Argon to the running.”
Petra leaned forward and whispered, “That’s Hoyt’s mom. Of course she wants him to be the big hero.”
Figures, Albert thought.
Other teams were nominated, but in the end when the voting took place, it was indeed Hydra and Argon that took the lead. The two teams’ previous wins in Ponderay had obviously made an impression on the rest of the Core.
“In Ponderay, it was a necessity to have two teams. But this term, we must be discreet. Six Balance Keepers is far too many to send in at once,” Bigglesby said. “We will now decide between Team Hydra and Argon.”
Professors Flynn and Asante both nodded in agreement.
“Now . . . all those in favor of Team Hydra as our First Unit?” Bigglesby asked.
This is happening too fast, Albert thought.
All around, hands shot up. One after the other, until almost every single hand in the stands was held high. There were only a few hands that didn’t go up.
And of course, Hoyt’s was one of them.
“Team Hydra it is,” Bigglesby said. But he didn’t sound pleased. “Argon will be our backup unit, should we need a second one to enter the Realm. But I do think, possibly”—he tapped his fingers on his chin—“that a fourth Balance Keeper should be added to this team. A final member, from Team Argon, to enter the Realm with Hydra and begin training alongside them. Should the backup unit need to enter, it will be beneficial to have their captain with some previous experience.”
He looked around the crowd until his dark eyes landed on Hoyt’s.
“Mr. Jackson,” he said, nodding. “I heard you were a very hands-on member of the teams in Ponderay last term.”
Leroy let out a very Farnsworth-like whimper.
“Oh, he was hands-on,” Birdie hissed. “He nearly killed us all.”
“You will join Team Hydra as the fourth and final member. Each night when you return, you will debrief Team Argon on the Realm, and help prepare them, should their time come to enter.” Bigglesby looked back at the rest of the crowd. “Do we have any objections to this?”
“Oh, I have objections,” Birdie muttered under her breath. She had her arm halfway up when Albert and Leroy both reached for it and pulled it back down.
“Be the bigger person,” Albert whispered.
“If you start a fight now, it’ll only make it worse in Belltroll,” Leroy added.
Birdie rolled her eyes and set her hands in her lap. “Fine,” she said. “But after what that little worm did in Ponderay . . .”
“He won’t do it again,” Albert said. In his mind, a vision appeared of Hoyt standing on the final pillar in Ponderay, plucking the last Tile from its spot and then purposely dropping it at the very last second, nearly destroying the Realm in his failed attempt to be the savior. “I’ll make sure of it.”
Hoyt’s eyes were wide as saucers, all the fight from last year seemingly leached from him.
Albert remembered the fear Hoyt had the night before they went into Ponderay. And as he watched Hoyt sink deeper and deeper into his seat in the stands, Albert realized . . .
Hoyt didn’t want to enter the Realm. Deep down, Hoyt was still afraid. Albert couldn’t blame him—he couldn’t remember ever being this afraid himself.
“That settles it, then,” Bigglesby said. “Tomorrow, Team Hydra, including Mr. Jackson, will enter the Realm of Belltroll.” Bigglesby pushed a button and the crane-like thing started lowering him back down to the stands.
The crowd began to disperse, but Albert felt glued to the bleachers. Tomorrow they’d go into Belltroll, which meant tomorrow . . .
I could face the traitor, Albert thought, with absolute clarity.
He knew it like he knew his shoes were on the right feet, and the grass was green, and the sky was a bright Farnsworth’s-eyes blue.
He knew it like he knew Leroy was hungry, and Birdie’s fingers were about to reach up and tighten her ponytail in a silent show of determination.
But now that it was real, Albert wasn’t sure he had what it would take.
“Leroy?” Albert said.
“What’s up, bro?” Leroy sat back down. Birdie and Petra did too.
“What I was saying before . . . ,” Albert said. His gut told him he needed to let his friends in on what his mind didn’t want to admit was true. “I think us going into the Realm is only going to speed things up.” He glanced around, but Leroy didn’t seem to be following. He’d just have to say it. “The traitor wants my Tile, right? And sooner or later, that means the traitor and I are going to face each other, and the Realm is the perfect place to do that. Us going into the Realm, me going into the Realm, it’s playing right into the traitor’s hands.” Albert glanced at Birdie, whose face had gone pale. At least it was sinking in now. “I know I have to do this, but . . .”
“Albert,” Petra said, and put a hand on Albert’s shoulder. “You aren’t alone in this. You aren’t expected to do anything on your own. That’s what teams are for.” Birdie and Leroy nodded their agreement.
The words were simple. But in this moment, they were the perfect reminder, music to Albert’s ears. He would go into the Realm and face the traitor and his friends would be there to support him, to help him—
His thoughts exploded, as the world lurched forward and back.
Albert grabbed the bench—it was like déjà vu of yesterday in math class, only the shaking was ten times worse. His friends grabbed on, too. People all around them who had been climbing down the bleachers struggled to find a seat, like a game of musical chairs from some wild nightmare.
There was a quick moment when the trembling faded completely and Albert exhaled. At least that one hadn’t lasted as long.
Then all at once, the shaking came back with a vengeance. An explosion rocked the entire Core.
CHAPTER 8
The Traitor’s Message
Albert could hardly see through the dust, but he could hear the screams. People were freaking out.
Professor Bigglesby was shouting, trying to calm everyone down, but once the dust settled, Albert didn’t stay to listen.
He sprinted from the stands, his lungs burning, and raced around the Pit and out the doorway that led to the orange platform.
He chased after his dad’s retreating figure as Professor Flynn and Professor Asante ran down the Pit path back toward the Main Chamber.
The explosion had only lasted a moment, perhaps even only a breath of a second, but with each step he took, the silent alarm in his head blared at top volume. Traitortraitortraitor!
“Albert! Slow down!” Birdie and Leroy shouted from behind him.
Below, Professor Flynn and Professor Asante raced through the door that led back into the tunnels. Albert slipped through the door just before it closed and chased after them.
With each stride, his Master Tile bumped against his chest, reminding him that he was a target, and he always would be, until the traitor was captured.
Finally, his dad and Professor Asante slowed.
The Main Chamber came into view as the tunnel opened wide. The giant chandelier was dark and the Chamber was creepy enough to be a setting for a horror movie. Professor Asante grabbed a flickering torch fro
m the wall and held it aloft.
The blue flames had faded to a pale, sickly green. And this time they didn’t flicker back to blue.
“Dad!” Albert said, breathless, as he finally reached them. Birdie and Leroy skidded to a stop seconds later.
Professor Flynn turned around and held out an arm at the mouth of the tunnel. “You three shouldn’t be here,” he said. “Especially you, Albert. Go back to the Pit with everyone else, and stay there until it’s safe.”
“I have to see what happened!” Albert said. “I have to know.”
“Plus, it’s safer if we stay together,” Birdie said beside Albert.
“Yeah, we could get jumped on the way back,” Leroy added. “You know, like, by the traitor and his gang.”
The corner of Professor Flynn’s lip curled up, and he sighed heavily as if he knew this was a battle he couldn’t win. “Stay close. If you see anyone, you run.” Then he took a green torch of his own and turned to Professor Asante. “Let’s go.”
Slowly, they stepped into the Main Chamber.
It was strange, so dark and empty. The room seemed smaller, as if it were closing in around them. The green torches cast an otherworldly glow on the silver streams, so that they resembled a witch’s brew. Albert shuddered. Witches had always creeped him out.
The bridges were still intact.
Professor Asante and Professor Flynn went first, crossing over the middle one.
Albert could feel Leroy’s warm breath on his neck, close behind.
“What happened?” Birdie whispered. “I don’t see anything damaged.”
“Shhh,” Albert said, because in this moment, silence seemed key.
They took a few more creaking steps across the bridge.
A whoosh sounded from below, just as they hit the halfway point.
Leroy screamed like a Hexabon and practically threw himself against Albert, who then smashed into Professor Asante’s back.
“We’re going to die!” Leroy yelped.
“Chill out!” Birdie thwacked him across the forehead. She pointed past Albert and Leroy at the water below. “It’s only that silly CoreFish. Glad to know he’s okay, though.”
The Traitor of Belltroll Page 4
